Methods for optimizing the installation of a software product onto a target computer system

ABSTRACT

Database tables may be created in a modular fashion and maybe efficiently merged together. Differences between various versions of software products also be recorded in database transforms. The database transforms can then be applied to a prior installation database, so as to upgrade the prior installation database. In this manner, enhancements, patches, upgrades, custom installations, can be applied in modular fashion without the need to ship an entire modified installation database. Database transforms created from a first version and an upgraded first version can also be used to upgrade corresponding second versions into an upgraded second versions.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to the following applications, all of whichare filed on the same day and assigned to the same assignee as thepresent application, all of which are incorporated herein by referencein their entirety:

“Use of Relational Databases for Software Installation”—file on Sep. 21,1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,144.

“System and Method for Repairing a Damaged Application”—file on Sep. 21,1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,397,381.

“Method and System for Restoring a Computer to its Original State Afteran Unsuccessful Installation Attempt”—file on Sep. 21, 1998, now U.S.Pat. No. 6,363,499.

“A Method for Categorizing and Installing Selected SoftwareComponents”—file on Sep. 21, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,370,686.

“System and Method for Managing Locations of Software Components Via aSource List”—file on Sep. 21, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,269,377.

“Software Installation and Validation Using Custom Actions”—file on Sep.21, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,127.

“Internal Database Validation”—file on Sep. 21, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No.6,389,414.

“Management of Non-persistent Data in a Persistent Database”—file onSep. 21, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,714,935.

“Method and System for Advertising Applications”—file on Sep. 21, 1998,now U.S. Pat. No. 6,345,386.

“Software Implementation Installer Mechanism”—file on Sep. 21, 1998, nowU.S. Pat. No. 6,418,554.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to performance optimizations forrelational databases and for the process of installing a softwareproduct onto a target computer system. More particularly, the presentinvention relates to performance optimizations for an installationdatabase system for installing a software product onto a target computersystem.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A software product may be provided to an end-user through a variety ofmedia. For example, a software product may be supplied via a magneticdisk, an optical disk or a network connection. The end-user may installthe software product onto a target computer system by copying variouscomponents of the software product into the memory of the targetcomputer system. To facilitate the installation process, the mediacontaining the software product may include an installation databasesystem that describes all of the features and components of the softwareproduct, as well as any additional installation information that may behelpful to the target computer system.

A relational database model may serve as an effective installationdatabase system due to its ability to provide fast and efficient queryprocessing, minimal redundancy of data and adequate data integrity. Arelational database comprises a collection of data elements stored in aplurality of two-dimensional database tables. A row of a relationaldatabase table defines a data record, whereas each column in a rowdefines a single data element. Data elements may comprise integer data,string data and even simple object data.

The relational database model maintains a rigid storage structure,wherein the data fields comprising the columns of a relational databasetable are of a predetermined fixed length. As such, each row in arelational database table is of a uniform size. This uniform storagemodel allows for simple memory management techniques and minimal CPUcycles when a data record (row) is fetched from disk. Once a data recordis fetched into main memory, a database engine can readily read or writea particular data element by simply jumping to a known offset for agiven column in the data record and then reading or writing the next nbytes, where n is the size of a column in number of characters.

On the downside, however, a rigid storage structure may cause thepersistent size of a relational database to be very large. For example,data elements that are too large to fit within in a fixed-length datafield must be truncated. Thus, in order to avoid loss of data, datafields are typically designed to be large enough to accommodate thelongest data element that is likely to be stored in the column. If agiven data element does not occupy all the space available in the datafield, the unoccupied space is filled with null values. Therefore, therigid storage structure of the relational database model may lead to agreat deal of wasted memory space and cause the performance of thedatabase system to be diminished.

Also, the rigid storage structure of the relational database model doesnot allow for the direct addition of temporary rows and columns to adatabase table. Temporary rows and columns may be useful in managingdata, such as installation data, that is dependant on dynamic externalconditions.

An installation database is generally created and populated by thesoftware developer that supplies the software product. For each versionof the software product, the software developer must create and populatea new installation database. Presently, if an end-user desires to addenhancements, patches, or upgrades to a software product, a completeversion of a new installation database must be obtained to replace theoriginal installation database.

Accordingly, there is a need for a relational installation databasemodel that maintains a uniform data storage structure while eliminatingwasted memory space. There is also a need for a relational databasemodel that provides for the direct addition of temporary rows andcolumns to a database tables. There is a further need for a method ofmodifying an installation database or an installed prior version of asoftware product to reflect upgrades, patches, or enhancements withoutsupplying a complete version of a new installation database.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention fulfills the needs in the art by providingoptimizations for the process involved in the installation of a softwareproduct onto a target computer system. The present invention provides arelational installation database system that has increased performanceand reduced persistent size. Persistent size is reduced by substitutingnon-integer data elements in a database table, whether in the form ofstrings, objects, etc., with integer identifiers. The integeridentifiers are obtained from an index which maintains a sequentialrecord of each unique occurrences of a data element. In effect, the dataelements in a database table are aliased with integer identifiers andthe relationship between the integer identifiers and the data elementsis determined by accessing the index.

The data fields underlying a database table are two-dimensional dataarrays. Aliasing the non-integer data elements of a database table withintegers causes the data arrays to be uniform. Thus, manipulation of thedata arrays is simplified. The present invention provides for the directaddition of temporary rows and columns to a database table by expandingand contracting the underlying data arrays. When temporary rows orcolumns are created, data elements in both the temporary and permanentrows and columns may be accessed and modified. Data elements in thepermanent rows and columns persist in the database, while data elementsin the temporary rows and columns do not persist.

Functionality is provided to allow installation database tables to bemerged together. This allows software developers to develop software ina modular fashion and to create an installation database for eachmodule. Installation database may then be merged into a finalinstallation database that is shipped to the end-user. Further,differences between two or more installation database tables may berecorded in a database transform. This database transform may be appliedto a database table in such a way that the changes are incorporatedtherein. Thus, software developers are able to provide enhancements,upgrades, patches, etc. to an end-user in the form of databasetransform, without the need for shipping an entire modified installationdatabase.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a computer system that providesan operating environment for the exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2A illustrates a traditional relational database;

FIG. 2B illustrates a relational database that has been aliased withinteger identifiers;

FIG. 3 illustrates the direct addition of a temporary column to arelational database table;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart demonstrating the process involved in anexemplary merger of two installation database tables; and

FIG. 5 is a flow chart demonstrating the process involved in creating atransform database table to record the differences between twoinstallation database tables.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The present invention provides optimizations for the process ofinstalling a software product onto a target computer system. Inparticular, the present invention contemplates the use of aninstallation database system to facilitate the installation process. Asused herein, the phrase “database system” is meant to indicate adatabase and any associated database engines or management systems. Aninstallation database may be a relational database for storing dataelements that describe the features and components of a software productas well as other installation information. The present invention servesto optimize the performance of an installation database system byreducing persistent size and allowing greater flexibility in thephysical structure of the installation database. The present inventionalso provides methods for utilizing an installation database toefficiently provide upgrades, patches, enhancements, etc. to an enduser.

Still, while the exemplary embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed in the general context of an installation database system,those skilled in the art will appreciate that certain principles of thepresent invention may be applied to any relational database system,irrespective of the particular application thereof.

Exemplary Operating Environment

Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals indicate likeelements throughout the several figures, FIG. 1 and the followingdiscussion are intended to provide a brief, general description of asuitable computing environment in which the invention may beimplemented. While the invention will be described in the generalcontext of an installation database system that is run by an operatingsystem in conjunction with a personal computer, those skilled in the artwill recognize that the invention also may be implemented in combinationwith other program modules. Generally, program modules include routines,programs, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in theart will appreciate that the invention may be practiced with othercomputer system configurations, including hand-held devices,multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. Theinvention may also be practiced in distributed computing environmentswhere tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linkedthrough a communications network. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules may be located in both local and remotememory storage devices.

An exemplary operating environment 100 for implementing the inventionincludes a conventional personal computer system 120, including aprocessing unit 121, a system memory 122, and a system bus 123 thatcouples the system memory 122 to the processing unit 121. The systemmemory 122 includes read only memory (ROM) 124 and random access memory(RAM) 125. A basic input/output system 126 (BIOS), containing the basicroutines that help to transfer information between elements within thepersonal computer system 120, such as during start-up, is stored in ROM124.

The personal computer system 120 further includes a hard disk drive 127,a magnetic disk drive 128, e.g., to read from or write to a removablemagnetic disk 129, and an optical disk drive 130, e.g., for reading aCD-ROM disk 131 or to read from or write to other optical media. Thehard disk drive 127, magnetic disk drive 128, and optical disk drive 130are connected to the system bus 123 by a hard disk drive interface 132,a magnetic disk drive interface 133, and an optical drive interface 134,respectively. The drives and their associated computer-readable mediaprovide nonvolatile storage for the personal computer system 120.Although the description of computer-readable media above refers to ahard disk, a removable magnetic disk and a CD-ROM disk, it should beappreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of media thatare readable by a computer system, such as magnetic cassettes, flashmemory cards, digital video disks, Bernoulli cartridges, and the like,may also be used in the exemplary operating environment.

The computer system 120 may include additional input devices (notshown), such as a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish,scanner, or the like. These and other input devices are often connectedto the processing unit 121 through a serial port interface 146 that iscoupled to the system bus, but may be connected by other interfaces,such as a game port or a universal serial bus (USB). A monitor 147 orother type of display device is also connected to the system bus 123 viaan interface, such as a video adapter 148. In addition to the monitor,personal computer systems typically include other peripheral outputdevices (not shown), such as speakers or printers.

The personal computer system 120 may operate in a networked environmentusing logical connections to one or more remote computer systems, suchas a remote computer system 149. The remote computer system 149 may be aserver, a router, a peer device or other common network node, andtypically includes many or all of the elements described relative to thepersonal computer system 120, although only a memory storage device 150has been illustrated in FIG. 1. The logical connections depicted in FIG.1 include a local area network (LAN) 151 and a wide area network (WAN)152. Such networking environments are commonplace in offices,enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the personal computer system120 is connected to the LAN 151 through a network interface 153. Whenused in a WAN networking environment, the personal computer system 120typically includes a modem 154 or other means for establishingcommunications over the WAN 152, such as the Internet. The modem 154,which may be internal or external, is connected to the system bus 123via the serial port interface 146. In a networked environment, programmodules depicted relative to the personal computer system 120, orportions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory storage device. Itwill be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary andother means of establishing a communications link between the computersystems may be used. It will be further appreciated that the inventioncould equivalently be implemented on host or server computer systemsother than personal computer systems, and could equivalently betransmitted to the host computer system by means other than a CD-ROM,for example, by way of the network connection interface 153.

A number of program modules may be stored in the drives and RAM 125 ofthe computer system 120, including an operating system 135, aninstallation program module 137 and other program modules 138. Inparticular, the installation program module 137 may comprise a databaseengine or database management system for interacting with aninstallation database 139. The purpose of the installation programmodule 137 is to install the software product 136 onto a target computersystem 120. The software product 136 and installation database 139 aregenerally provided via a computer-readable medium, such as a CD-ROM disk131.

An installation database 139 is a file containing all the installationinformation (data) for a particular software product 136 that is to beinstalled onto a target computer system 120. The binary imagescomprising the software product 136 may be stored in a location externalto the installation database 139, e.g. in distinct directories on theCD-ROM disk 131. Alternatively, the binary images may be stored incompressed cabinet files contained in streams within the installationdatabase 120.

A CD-ROM 131 is typically introduced to the target computer system 120through an optical drive 130. The software product 136 and installationdatabase may also be provided via a magnetic disk 129, a memory storagedevice 150 of a remote computer system 149, or any other commonly knownmedium. Accordingly, the software product 136 and the installationdatabase 139 may be introduced via a magnetic disk drive 128, ortransferred from a remote computer 149 through a serial port interface146 or a network interface 153. Other media and/or devices for providingand introducing a software product 136 to a target computer system 120will be apparent to those skilled in the art and are considered to bewithin the spirit and scope of the present invention.

As shown, the installation program module 137 may reside on the harddisk drive 127 of the target computer system and may operate inconjunction with the operating system 135. For example, included withthe WINDOWS operating system produced by Microsoft Corporation ofRedmond, Washington is a WINDOWS INSTALLER program module that isoperable to detect and install a new software product 136 that isintroduced to the target computer system 120. In addition, theinstallation program module 137 may be provided along with the softwareproduct 136 and the installation database 139 via a computer-readablemedium, such as CD-ROM 131, or the like. Those skilled in the art willappreciate that the installation program module 137, the softwareproduct 136 and the installation database 139 may be providedindependently of each other.

Once the software product 136, the installation database 139 and/or theinstallation program module 137 are introduced to the target computersystem 120, the processing unit 121 executes the instructions of theinstallation program module 137 to install an install-set of thesoftware product 136, i.e., the set of components that are to beinstalled, onto the target computer system 120. The application programmodule 136 may be thought of as comprising a set of features, which inturn comprise a set of components. Certain components may be requiredfor proper operation of a feature of the software product 136, whileother components may be optional.

The installation program module 137 may gather information regarding thecurrent state of the computer system 120. The information gathered bythe installation program module 137, in conjunction with informationstored in the installation database 139 is used to determine whichcomponents of the software product 136 are to be included in theinstall-set. The install-set typically includes all required componentsand any optional components that are determined by the installationprogram module 137 to be appropriate for installation onto the targetcomputer system 120.

Operation of an Exemplary Embodiment

As mentioned above, the performance advantages provided by therelational database model are desirable in the context of aninstallation database. As such, an installation database may be arelational database comprising a collection of relational databasetables. Each relational database table is identified by a unique tablename. FIG. 2A shows a sample relational database comprising threetables: a Feature_Table 205, a Component_Table 215 and aFeature_Comp_Table 225. Relational database tables are two dimensionalarrays comprising rows and columns. The rows of a relational databasetable define data records and the columns of each row representindividual data elements. Relational database rows, or records, aredistinguished from each other through the use of keys. Relationaldatabase columns are identified by column names, also referred to asattributes. These and other concepts of relational databases are wellknown in the art.

In an exemplary embodiment, the data elements stored in the installationdatabase tables 205, 215 and 225 correspond to software products,features of the software products and components of the features of thesoftware products. As used herein, the phrase “software product” ismeant to refer to an application program module or a suite ofapplication program modules. A feature is a granular piece of a softwareproduct. The installation of a feature is optional. Features correspondroughly to the functional features of the software product itself, suchas a “Proofing Tools” feature or a “Word” feature. Each feature isessentially a grouping of components and may also include otherfeatures. Features need not be globally unique, and therefore may beidentified by any appropriate means, such as with a textual featureidentifier.

A “component” is a collection of resources, such as files or registrykeys, that are all installed or uninstalled as a unit. Components arethe building blocks of the software product that are not exposed to theuser. A resource, such as a file or a registry key, may be part of onlyone component. Two components may not share the same resource whetherthey are part of the same software product 136 or parts of differentsoftware products. A discussion of features and components of a softwareproduct, and their role in an installation database, is described inU.S. application Ser. No. 09/158,125, entitled “Use of RelationalDatabases for Software Installation” filed on Sep. 21, 1998 and owned bythe assignee for the present application. This related application, U.S.application Ser. No. 09/158,125, is hereby fully incorporated herein byreference.

As shown in FIG. 2A, Feature_Table 205 stores a list of features, whichare identified by Feature_ID 207. Each record in the Feature_Table 205also includes a Feature_Name 209, an Attribute_F_A 211, an Attribute_F_B212 and a Feature_Preference 213. The Component_Table 215 is constructedin the manner similar to the Feature_Table 205, but stores records forcomponents instead of features. Each record in the Component_Table 205includes a Component_Name 219, an Attribute_C_A 221, an Attribute_C_B223 and a Component_Preference 223. The Feature_Comp_Table 225associates Feature_IDs 207 with Component_IDs 217. As can be seen, thedata elements stored in the database tables of FIG. 2A comprise stringdata, each string having a variable length, and integer data.

In order to improve the performance of the database engine within theinstallation program module 137, the present invention undertakes tosimplify and reduce the physical storage model of the installationdatabase 139. Such simplification and reduction is accomplished bypopulating an installation database table with only integer identifiersthat represent each of the installation data elements. In effect, eachnon-integer data element is aliased with an integer identifier. In orderto keep track of the original data elements, an index is created forstoring a single copy of each unique string, object or other non-integertype of installation data that may be included in the installationdatabase 139. The data element corresponding to a given integeridentifier in a database table may be determined by reference to theindex.

Integers are generally more uniform and compact than strings or objects.Thus, by aliasing an installation database with integers, the size andcomplexity of the database may be significantly reduced. For example,the columns of the installation database 139 may be set to affixed sizedue to the single type of data stored therein. Also, less memory isutilized because only one copy of each string or object is stored in theindex. As another benefit, the index storing the string and object dataelements is not a database table and is thus not subject to any sizerestrictions that would be imposed on a database table. Thus, forexample, strings stored in the index may be up to 64 k bytes in size. Inaddition to strings, reference-counted objects (COM objects) are alsoused in the exemplary installation database and thus, object referencesmay be stored directly as integer values when they fit in the size of adatabase integer (32-bits). The use of COM objects insures that only asingle copy of the object exists for any number of references to it. Forobjects that must be referenced by 64-bit pointers, a separate index maybe created and such objects may be aliased in a manner similar tostrings.

In addition to keeping the index of data elements, a corresponding arrayis required to hold a reference count for each data element. A referencecount is used to keep track of each data element, so that a data elementmay be released from memory when it is no longer referenced by any tableor cursor in the database. Both the data elements and the correspondingreference counts must be persisted when the database is committed. Anadditional complexity occurs with temporary data elements, which arediscussed in greater detail below. Temporary data elements mustoperationally behave in the same manner as persistent data, but when thedatabase is committed, the reference counts for the temporary dataelements must be excluded, as well as the data elements themselves ifthey have only temporary references.

FIG. 2B illustrates an installation database 200′ that has been aliasedwith integer identifiers. Aliased installation database 200′ correspondsto the installation database 200 of FIG. 2A. In FIG. 2B, index 230stores each unique occurrence of a string data element that is found inthe Feature_Table 205, the Component_Table 215 and theFeature_Comp_Table 225 of installation database 200. For example, thestring “Feature_ID” 207 is stored as a first entry in the index 230. Ascan be seen, there are no duplicate entries in the index 230. Theleft-most column 232 in the index 230 stores sequential integer valuesidentifying each entry in the index 230. Column 232 is shown forillustrative purposes only and is actually superfluous because acomputer system will automatically assign sequential integersidentifiers to the elements of a sequential index structure, such asindex 230.

The sequential integer identifiers created in the index 230 are used toalias the data elements in the database tables. For example,Feature_Table 205 from FIG. 2A may be converted into table “52” 205′shown in FIG. 2B. As can be seen, entry number 52 in the index 230corresponds to the string “Feature_Table” 205. Also, entry number 1 inthe index 230 corresponds to the string “Feature_ID.” Therefore, theinteger identifier “1” is stored as the first entry in table “52” 205′.Similarly, entry number 5 in the index 230 corresponds to the string“Feature_(—)1.” Accordingly, the integer identifier “5” is stored intable 52 205′ in the location corresponding to the field where thestring “Feature_(—)1” is stored in Feature_Table 205. All rows andcolumns of each database table in the exemplary installation databaseare populated in the same fashion. It should be noted that the integeridentifiers are stored in the database table columns having a data typeother than integer. Thus, in aliased table “52,” there is no conflictbetween the integer identifier “1” and the original integer data storedin column “46”. Comparing the database tables 205, 215 and 225 of FIG.2A to the corresponding database tables 205′, 215′ and 225′ of FIG. 2B,it can be seen that the persistent size of database tables 205′, 215′and 225′ has been significantly reduced.

In the exemplary embodiment, index 230 is a hashed index. As such, astring data element and its corresponding integer identifier may belocated in index 230 in a quick and efficient manner. The installationprogram module 137 will query the installation database 200′ in order toaccess or modify string data elements. A database query may include thename of one or more string data elements. Integer identifierscorresponding to the queried string data elements in may be located inthe index 230 using any well-known hashing function. The appropriateinteger identifiers are then copied into database cursors, which areused to locate the corresponding aliased data elements in the databasetables. Database cursors are well known within the art and furtherdiscussion thereof is not necessary.

An example database query that might be used in conjunction with thetraditional relational database 200 shown in FIG. 2A is as follows:

Select Component_Name

From Component_Table

Where Component_Preference=“0”.

This standard database query seeks the Component_Name 219 of anycomponent in the Component_Table 215 that has a Component_Preference 223of “0”. The result set for this query comprises the data element“Component_Two.” In the aliased database system of FIG. 2B, the aboveexample query would be effectively converted into the following query,using the hashed index 230:

Select 17

From 53

Where 47=“0”.

The converted query is processed in a traditional manner using thealiased database tables. For example, the installation program 137 willrecognize from the query format that “53” is a table name, “17” and “47”are column names and “48” is a data element. A cursor of a row in table“53” will be created and the value “48” will be stored in column “47.”Table “53” will then be searched, using the cursor, using a binarysearch method or any other well known search method. As can be seen fromFIG. 2B, the result set for this converted query comprises the dataelement “29.” Referencing the index 230, the string data element“Component_Two” corresponding to the integer identifier “29” may bequickly located, i.e. by accessing index entry number 29.

The uniformity of aliased database tables also allows for the directaddition of temporary rows and columns. FIG. 3 illustrates the conceptof adding a temporary column 305 to a database table. As mentionedabove, a relational database table is actually a two-dimensional array.In the situation where all fields in the array are uniform, it is asimple matter to expand the array to accommodate additional rows andcolumn. In the exemplary embodiment, internal application programinterfaces (APIs), such as “CreateColumn” and “CreateRow,” are used toadd temporary columns and rows to a database table. The internal APIsallow certain properties of the new column or row to be designated. Onesuch property may be that the row or column is temporary. Externally, atemporary rows and columns are added using an SQL extension keyword,“TEMPORARY.”

In the installation database context, temporary rows and columns may beuseful when the result of a database query depends on dynamic externalconditions. By way of example, prior to installation of a softwareproduct, it may be desirous to determine whether a given component ofthe software product is already installed on the target computer system120. The installation program module 137 may be programmed to scan thetarget computer system 120 to locate previously installed components. Asshown in FIG. 3, a temporary column 305 labeled “55” may be added totable “53” 215′ (the aliased Component_Table) to store a data elementthat indicates the installation status of each component of a softwareproduct 136. If a previously installed component is located by theinstallation program module 137, the integer identifier “56” is storedin temporary column “55” 305. Note that entry number 55 in the index 230is associated with the string “Status” and that entry number 56 isassociated with the string “Installed.”

While temporary rows and columns are in existence, data elements in boththe temporary and permanent rows and columns may be directly accessedand modified. The data elements stored in those temporary rows andcolumns do not persist in the database. However, any modifications madeto the data elements in the permanent rows and columns do persist,independent of the temporary rows and columns. Temporary data is alsodescribed in U.S. application Ser. No. 09/157,883, entitled “Managementor Non-persistent Data in a Persistent Database” filed on Sep. 21, 1998and owned by the assignee for the present application. This relatedapplication, U.S. application Ser. No. 09/157,883, is hereby fullyincorporated herein by reference.

The present invention further extends the functionality of aninstallation database system by providing methods for efficientlymanaging and manipulating installation database tables. For example,database tables may be merged using a “merge” or “union” operation ofrelational algebra. Software developers may thus create installationdatabase tables in a modular fashion and merge the modules into a singleinstallation database table when the software product 136 is complete.Also, installation databases may subsequently be created for patches orenhancements for a software product 136. These subsequent installationdatabases may be shipped to an end-user and may be merged into theoriginal installation database.

An exemplary merger of two aliased database tables is described in FIG.4. At step 402, the first row of the first table is located. Aspreviously mentioned, a row of a database table is identified by a key,which comprises one or more of the data elements in the columns of therow. At step 404, a first cursor corresponding to the first table ispopulated with the data elements from the first row. Then, at step 406,the contents of the first cursor are copied into a second cursorcorresponding to the second table. At step 410, the second table issearched to locate a row of data that is identified by the same key thatis stored in the second cursor. If no matching key is found in thesecond table at step 412, a new row is added to the second table and thedata elements stored in the second cursor are copied into the new row atstep 414. However, if a matching key is located in the second databasetable, it is determined at step 416 whether the non-key data elements inthe corresponding row are all identical to the non-key data elements inthe second cursor. If the non-key data in the located row of the secondtable is not identical to the non-key data in the second cursor, a mergeconflict is indicated at step 418 by flagging the conflicting row.Conflicting data elements are not merged into the second database tableand may be called to the user's attention, so that such conflicts may beresolved. If the non-key data in the located row of the second table isidentical to the non-key data in the second cursor, no action is takenwith respect to that data.

At step 420, a determination is made as to whether a next row exists inthe first table. If a next row does exist in the first table, the nextrow is located at step 422, the data stored therein is copied to thefirst cursor at step 404 and the above-described method is repeated. Ifno next row exists in the first table, the method is terminated at step424. To support merging and other database extensions, additional tableand cursor operations have been implemented in addition to the standardinsert, update, and delete. The merge operation performs the logic abovefor merging data into an existing table. Additional operations are:assign, which forces in data whether or not the key exists; replace,which allow primary keys to be edited; and several row validationoperations. Externally these are invoked via the MsiViewModify API,using specific enumeration values, along with the data record.

Installation database systems may also benefit from the “transform,” or“difference,” operation of relational algebra. This operation determinesthe differences between two databases and creates a temporary file ofonly those differences. A database transform is a recording of thedifferences between two database tables. A database transform may bestored using a stream of changed data for each non-identical table.

Database transforms become very useful in providing customizedinstallations, in synchronizing a program module to operate in differentlanguages and in providing “patches” to fix various bugs in a programmodule. For example, an installation database may be modified to effecta custom installation of a software product 136. A database transformmay be created to record the differences between the originalinstallation database tables and the modified database tables.Subsequently, the modifications recorded in the database transform maybe applied to another copy of the original installation database, sothat another end-user may obtain the same custom installation withouthaving to manually perform the customization.

As another example, an English version and a Spanish version of asoftware product 136 may be created, each having its own installationdatabase. A database transform may be created to record the differencesbetween the English version and the Spanish version. Subsequently, thedatabase transform may be applied to an installation database tablecorresponding to an updated English version of the software. Theresulting “transformed” database will produce an updated Spanish versionof the software product 136.

FIG. 5 describes the creation of an exemplary database transform forrecording the differences between a reference database table and acurrent database table. At step 502, the first row of a current table islocated. At step 504, a current cursor corresponding to the currenttable is populated with the data elements from the first row. Then, atstep 506, the contents of the current cursor are copied into a referencecursor corresponding to a reference table. At step 510, the referencetable is searched to locate a row of data that is identified by the samekey that is stored in the reference cursor. If no matching key is foundin the reference table at step 512, a row is added to a databasetransform and the data elements stored in the reference cursor arecopied into the database transform at step 514. However, if a matchingkey is located in the reference database table, at step 515 thecorresponding row in the reference table is flagged to indicate that ithas been processed. Then, at step 516 the data elements in thecorresponding row that are not identical to the data elements in thereference cursor are copied into the transform at step 514. If the datain the located row of the reference table is identical to the data inthe reference cursor, no action is taken with respect to that data. Atstep 520, a determination is made as to whether a next row exists in thecurrent table. If a next row does exist in the current table, the nextrow is located at step 522, the data stored therein is copied to thecurrent cursor at step 504 and the above-described method is repeated.If no next row exists in the current table, the method proceeds to step523.

At step 523, the primary keys of any non-flagged rows from the referencetable are copied into the transform and are indicated to be rows thathave been deleted from the current database table. Thus, when thedatabase transform is applied to a new database table, the non-flaggedrows will be deleted therefrom. In a similar manner, columns that arenot present in the reference database may be registered in the transformas columns to be created at the time the transform is applied. Likewise,tables that are added or removed are registered in the transform, suchas is necessary to be able to recreate a new database by applying thetransform to the reference database. Following completion of step 523,the method ends at step 524.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that certain principles of thepresent invention, while particularly beneficial to aliased installationdatabases, may be applied to any relational-type installation databases.For example, the concept of directly adding temporary rows and columnsto a relational database table does not require that the data elementsin the database table be aliased with integer identifiers. Furthermore,the concept of directly adding temporary rows and columns to arelational database table is not limited to installation database.Similarly, the concepts of providing upgrades, patches, enhancements,etc. for a software product by manipulating installation database tablesthrough operations such as merges and transforms does not require theinstallation database tables to be aliased.

In view of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the presentinvention provides optimizations for the process of installing asoftware product onto a target computer system. Still, it should beunderstood that the foregoing relates only to the exemplary embodimentsof the present invention, and that numerous changes may be made theretowithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as definedby the following claims.

I claim:
 1. A computer-readable medium having stored thereoncomputer-executable instructions for implementing the method comprising:providing a first installation database table corresponding to a firstversion of a software product; providing a second installation databasetable corresponding to a second version of the software product; andrecording in a database transform the differences between the firstinstallation database table and the second installation database table,wherein recording the database transform includes the following: foreach row in the second installation database table, identifying a keyassociated with the row and searching the first installation databasetable for a corresponding row having the key, flagging each row in thefirst installation database table having the key; writing each row ofthe second installation database table that has a key that is notidentified in the first installation database table to the databasetransform; writing each row of the first installation database tablethat is not flagged to the database transform.
 2. A method for creatinga database transform that can be used for upgrading software products,the method comprising: providing a first installation database tablecorresponding to first version of a software product; providing a secondinstallation database table corresponding to a second version of thesoftware product; and recording in a database transform the differencesbetween the first installation database table and the secondinstallation database table, wherein recording the database transformincludes the following: for each row in the second installation databasetable, identifying a key associated with the row and searching the firstinstallation database table for a corresponding row having the key;flagging each row in the first installation database table having thekey; writing each row of the second installation database table that hasa key that is not identified in the first installation database table tothe database transform; writing each row of the first installationdatabase table that is not flagged to the database transform.
 3. Amethod as recited in claim 2, further including: providing an upgradedfirst installation database table corresponding to an upgraded firstversion of the software product; applying the database transform to theupgraded first installation database table to produce an upgraded secondinstallation database corresponding to an upgraded second version of thesoftware product.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first version ofthe software product is adapted for a first language; and wherein thesecond version of the software product is adapted for a second language.5. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein the second version comprisesan upgrade of the first version, and wherein the method furtherincludes: applying the database transform to an installation databasetable of the first version to produce the second version of the softwareproduct.
 6. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein the first and secondinstallation database tables are relational database tables.
 7. Acomputer program product comprising one or more computer-readable mediahaving computer-executable instructions for implementing the methodcomprising: identifying a first installation database table; identifyinga second installation database table, the first and second installationdatabase tables being composed of rows, each row containing dataelements; for each row of the first installation database table,iteratively: identifying a corresponding key included in the row;searching the second installation database table for a row that containsthe identifiable key; creating a new row in the second installationdatabase and writing the data elements of the identified row of thefirst installation database into the new row when it is determined thatthe second installation database does not already have a row with theidentifiable key; when a row containing the first identifiable key isidentified in the second installation database, determining whether thecorresponding rows are in conflict by determining whether at least onedata element that is present in one of the corresponding rows is notpresent in the alternative one of the corresponding rows; and notifyinga user when a conflict between corresponding rows is determined.
 8. Amethod for merging modular installation database tables into a finalinstallation database, the method comprising: identifying a firstinstallation database table; identifying a second installation databasetable, the first and second installation database tables being composedof rows, each row containing data elements; for each row of the firstinstallation database table, iteratively: identifying a correspondingkey included in the row; searching the second installation databasetable for a row that contains the identifiable key; creating a new rowin the second installation database and writing the data elements of theidentified row of the first installation database into the new row whenit is determined that the second installation database does not alreadyhave a row with the identifiable key; when a row containing the firstidentifiable key is identified in the second installation database,determining whether the corresponding rows are in conflict bydetermining whether at least one data clement that is present in one ofthe corresponding rows is not present in the alternative one of thecorresponding rows; and notifying a user when a conflict betweencorresponding rows is determined.
 9. A method as recited in claim 8,wherein the first installation database table comprises a patch for asoftware product corresponding to the second installation databasetable.
 10. A method as recited in claim 8, wherein the first and secondinstallation database tables are relational database tables.